I have called this curriculum “A Different Approach for a Special Child.” With this unit I hope to help my students through different activities that will motivate them to participate more actively in classroom discussions, reading, and writing. I hope also to create in my students some inner motivation to discover things around them and enable them to observe from different sources the changes that occur over time. Such sources include the people (themselves) and things around them—for example, costumes, houses, building structures, schools, heating systems, transportation, parks, etc.
Beginning with the Indians in Puerto Rico and in the United States of America, we will analyze their style of life, housing, clothing, food, entertainment, sports, etc. Before analyzing the customs and life style of the Indians of America, I decided to initiate the students’ learning about their own country as a basis for a new learning experience. It is very difficult if not impossible for these students to face new experiences and learn new things if they have not been exposed to similar previous learning situations and acquired some prior knowledge.
Next we will look at the first white settlers in America and see how these people interacted with and learned from the native Americans. Finally, we will look at the Africans who came to America as slaves. We will discuss their culture and artistic expressions, their dances, masks, etc.
(Recommended for Bilingual Social Studies, grades 4-5 or Learning Center grades 6-8)
Key Words
Bilingualism Reading Instruction Spanish English Puerto Rico Social Studies Indians
